Just a few words from professionals in the field

As I look through references for some academic assignments this week. I read a quote from Dr. T. Berry Brazelton.

"Grandparents who want to be truly helpful will do well to keep their mouths shut and their opinions to themselves until these are requested." ~ Dr. Brazelton.

This quote seems funnier to me in my current state (39 week and 3 days pregnant), we have gotten some extremely unwanted "advice" from not only family but friends and acquaintances.
The second statement from Brazelton that means a lot to me is:

"Parents don't make mistake because they don't care, but because they care so deeply." ~Dr. Brazelton.

This statement weighs heavy with me, as I am becoming a new parent, I expect to make mistakes and hope to learn from those mistakes and use my education to help ensure a great upbringing for my daughter.

Passion is such a major portion of our careers and the field of early childhood education. "Passion is professional in the sense that people pursuing their passion are deeply committed to the domain that has engaged them."

Effective, developmentally appropriate curriculum is based on what is known about the interrelationships and sequences of ideas, so that children’s later abilities and understandings can be built on those already acquired. At the same time, the rate and pattern of each child’s learning is unique. An effective teacher must account for all these factors, maintaining high expectations while setting challenging, achievable goals and providing the right amount and type of scaffolding for each child (Copple & Bredekamp 2009, p. 2).

Effective teachers are found with passion and an understanding for early childhood development. I hope to show that within my work and throughout my career.

An Inspiring Tale

Thinking back over the last ten years of working with children, I have many stories from my career. It is hard to pick just one tale to pass along some wisdom (but I am sure I will be sharing more over time). As I reminisced about my former clients and students, one student stuck out the most. It was the most challenging situation I have dealt with and it was difficult to keep in my that she was just a child.

For the purpose of confidentiality students names are changed in this story.

A mother arrived at our center looking to enroll her child in our care. She had just been rejected out of another program. After speaking with her and showing her around the facility, we filed paperwork for her daughter to attend our program.

The first couple weeks were wonderful, I didn't understand how or why she was rejected from her previous program. About a month passed and this little girl, Anne*, was a pleasure to have in the center. She liked all the teachers and her classmates. After another month we started to see some behavioral challenges, mostly kicking or hitting. We handled the behavior with redirection, at first. It only seemed to escalate over time. After six months, she was physically abusive to other classmates, teachers and staff members. Not only was she physically abusive, she began using verbal abuse (things a four year old should not even hear) towards students and teachers.

It began a pattern of behavioral problems, so much so, that communication throughout the day with her parents was a normal process. After another month of abuse, I was forced to ask for some action on the parents part. We helped with evaluations and whatever the therapists needed to help her. After she left our program, I struggled with the thought, "Did I do everything I could?"

After some time and many talks with colleagues, I came to the realization that unfortunately you can't care for every child. Some times children need to be placed someplace else. This story is just a small facet of my career and why my passion is so great for helping children. Every child needs a teacher who cares.

My advice to other colleagues is to always try every different options but know that some children are better in a different place.

~Miss Megan

* name changed for confidentiality.

What Inspires Me as an Educator

As the birth of my first child approaches I have spent a large amount of time compiling books and projects that I wish for her to complete over the upcoming years. This has forced me to think about what inspires me as an educator and what keeps my passion going. 

"Sometimes," said Pooh, "the smallest things take up the most room in your heart."

This quote is from Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne. This reminds me of how each child takes up a special space in your heart. As a teacher I find that they tend to never leave, even after time students always stay in your heart and for me this is where my passion grows. For me personally I see this with the children I have watched, I still think about them and what they are up to even after I have moved on to new family and students.

This picture is from my other passion, hiking and the outdoors. 

I lean towards using nature and the outdoors in my lesson plans, as well. I find that children learn from objects they can physically touch and manipulate.

Masters of Science in Early Childhood Studies

Good Morning!

Today starts the beginning of an exciting and adventurous summer. I begin the first course of my new Master's program with Walden University. As part of the program I will be updating this blog with early childhood information and resources that will help not only educators but parents, alike.

Look forward to posting and sharing my education with the internet community!

See you next week!